Mumbai: Newly elected Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar said he would check the rules of the Maharashtra legislative assembly, previous conventions and traditions, before taking an appropriate decision on the Leader of Opposition (LoP) issue. Narwekar said that each legislature makes its decision on the LoP. As per the provisions of the Salaries and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in the State Legislature Act, an LoP can be nominated if the party has 10% of the elected members, officials said. However, CM Devendra Fadnavis stated that a decision on the LoP would be taken by the Speaker.
Political observers noted that so far, the BJP has indicated that the Speaker may recognise an LoP in the assembly. Narwekar also mentioned that he would push for the Maha Vista Project, which includes the construction of a new legislature building with a sitting capacity for 350 legislators.
“Even though the number of opposition MLAs is less, I will give them equal opportunity on every platform. Even though they don’t have enough numbers to be part of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC), where there are 12 members. You need 20-22 MLAs to be part of BAC per member. I have taken them in the BAC. I think to run the house properly, we need the cooperation of both the ruling and opposition,” Narwekar said.
Officials stated that the proposed new building would be developed next to the existing Vidhan Bhavan. “The current legislature building became functional in 1980. The assembly can accommodate 303, the current strength is 288. The new building will have a sitting capacity for 350 members at a time in a more comfortable manner. Legislative process will be digitised in the next 2 years. We also plan to construct a central hall at Nagpur legislature. There is no central hall in Nagpur and I think it should be built,” Narwekar said.
Officials mentioned that with the delimitation of seats likely to happen by 2026, the strength of the assembly could increase up to 350, and a bigger legislature hall will be needed.
With no party in the MVA getting enough MLAs to elect a formal LoP, newly elected Sena (UBT) legislature party leader Bhaskar Jadhav wrote to the state legislature’s Principal Secretary Jitendra Bhole seeking clarification on the exact rules. Senior officials have said that for the first time in six decades, there may be no LoP in the Maharashtra legislative assembly owing to an inadequate number of opposition members.
“There is still time to stake claim to the LoP’s post. We have asked the legislature officials under what rules is the LoP elected or law. We have asked for the rules. We spoke to them, they seemed confused. We believe there is no rule to have a minimum number of MLAs to elect an LoP,” Jadhav said.
